List of Hustle characters
Hustle is a British television comedy-drama series made by Kudos Film & Television for BBC One in the United Kingdom.
Main characters
Contacts
- Neil Cooper (played by Tom Mannion) is another con artist who helps Mickey in Season 1, Episode 1. He impersonates a police officer named Martin Depalma in order to head the investigation into the crew.
- Tip Jones (played by Brian Pettifer) is a forger of classical art who is extremely skilled but not trustworthy. When the crew call on him he is faking being brain damaged to avoid an existing charge of forgery. He forges a Mondrian painting for the crew to sell as an original, but attempts to swindle them at the last moment.
- Samuel Richards (played by Richard Harrington) is a thief who means to steal a diamond taken from his family by a greedy banker, an event which led his father to kill himself. He teams up with the crew when the Head of Security at Moore's Bank tries to force the crew to help catch him.
- Ray Fordham is a grifter known as 'Scottish Ray' - a nickname he earned after taking a £50,000 down payment on Edinburgh Castle. He tries to recruit Danny Blue into a new crew he is setting up.
- Harry Holmes (played by Ronald Pickup) is a fellow grifter who tries to con property developer Howard Jennings. However Jennings has seen through him from the beginning and has taped all of their conversations, which he hands over to the police.
- Adam Rice (played by Paul Nicholls) is a thief regarded by the police as "The Ghost" due to his ability to just disappear from the crime scene or elude people trying to follow him. Being forced by the police, the crew try to enlist his help in stealing an original Hans Christian Anderson manuscript. Though initially hesitant to join a team he does not know well, he is attracted by the idea of working with Ashley Morgan and helps the crew.
- Archie (played by Tony Rohr) is involved in horse-racing, and is able to supply the crew with a horse and "paint" another horse during the con in season 4, episode 2. He obviously has a history with the group - he says his is "always nervous around grifters".
- Joseph “Joey” Pepper is an American who used to be a grifter. He was once partners with Albert Stroller when he was in Las Vegas. After Albert left for Britain in the 1970s, Joey eventually took a job as a security consultant in a Las Vegas casino. He helps the crew escape after stealing $5 million from a casino.
Marks
Series 1
- Peter Williamson (played by James Laurenson) is London businessman. He regularly makes the top 500 rich list but he is greedy and will cross the street to pick up a one pound coin. The crew lure him in with the promise of a guaranteed, but illegal, way of tripling his money.
- Frank Gorley (played by Robert Pugh) is a renowned bully and the owner of a top London casino and hotel situated in the West End. Though brutal, he is a film fanatic, and the crew con him into investing into a classic-style film production, with the promise of a speaking role in the finished film.
- DS Terri Hodges (played by Liz May Brice) is head of Fraud Squad at the London Metropolitan Police. She has a particular vendetta against Michael Stone, having been tricked by him more than once.
- Meredith Gates (played by Orla Brady) is an avid art collector with a particular interest in the artist Mondrian; she has ripped off many poor struggling dealers and buyers over the years in order to complete her collection. The crew fake an original Mondrian and stage a bidding war for her to participate in.
- Victor Maher (played by David Calder) is the Head of Security for Moores Bank and before that he was in the Fraud Squad for 19 years. He is thrilled at taking on the best grifters in Europe and out-grifting them. He tries to force the crew into catching a known bank robber
- Catherine Winterborn (played by Tamzin Outhwaite) is a recently-divorced businesswoman who his very bitter and vengeful towards her ex-husband Steven (played by Ben Miles). Having been left with nothing after the divorce, she jumps at the opportunity to invest in a rival hotel chain organised by the crew. Even when a guilty Mickey admits the con to her, she tries to commission the crew into ruining her ex-husbands career, the team only realising that her ex is actually a good person after they have put the con into action.
- Arthur Bond (played by Philip Jackson) is a rich businessman who owns the biggest theme park in the North of England. Mickey and Danny "sold" him the London Eye for £100,000; when the con was exposed on the media he was ridiculed, leaving him thirsty for revenge.
- Sir Anthony Reeves (played by David Haig) was the CEO of one of the major utility companies. After some bad management decisions he was dismissed, but with a golden handshake of £500,000. The crew con him out of his money by tempting him with his two guilty pleasures - horse racing and prostitutes.
Series 2
- Howard Jennings (played by Charlie Creed Miles) is a ruthless, young property broker in London. Considering London to be 'his city', he has taken radical steps to acquire valuable property, including running over the cat of an elderly tenant so that she would sign off on her flat. Though intelligent, he has a very bad temper - and Michael Stone is even more tempted at the prospect of conning him because he has been conned before and considers himself too smart for grifters.
- Johnny Keyes (played by Stanley Townsend) is a prominent restaurateur and celebrity chef in London, but has a notorious gangland past. His restaurant, "Keyes" is a highly fashionable spot, with an eight-week waiting list for a table. Keyes also harbours deep feelings for his long-lost son, kidnapped at a very young age. It is by impersonating this son that the crew find their "in". His suspicious wife, Juliette, is played by Rebecca Lacey.
- Anthony Mgube is an extremely wealthy individual born in Nigeria but residing in Switzerland, with a reputation for torturing prisoners in the army and allegations of embezzlement and fraud. He now sells arms to militia groups and mercenaries in East Africa. He has two main passions in his life: racing horses and collecting rare antique banknotes. It is revealed that Mgube is actually Mickey in disguise in order to con grifter Trevor Speed who had conned Danny's grandmother.
- DI Samantha Phillips (played by Fay Ripley) is a corrupt policewoman who tries to blackmail Mickey and his crew by taking the spoils of their latest con, stealing a painting and leaving a copy for auction. She has a safe deposit box where she stashes all her ill-gotten gains.
- Jake Henry (played by Max Beesley) is Stacie’s estranged husband and used to be a short con artist with her. However, in 2000 he disappeared with their savings and fled to Amsterdam, leaving her only a few assorted items in their otherwise empty flat. He has since gone on to earning money by playing poker professionally, and has a reputation as one of the best players around.
Series 3
- Benny Frazier (played by Mel Smith) owns 16 licensed pubs and clubs across the East End. He is also a major importer of booze through his company, Benny Frazier Import/Export Company Limited, but he uses the alcohol shipments as a cover to smuggle in Eastern Europeans. The police have been after him for a while but they can never get anything on him. The crew get to him through his 17-year-old son, a hopeful but talentless rapper, keen to hit the big time.
- Kulvinder Samar (played by Silas Carson) is a greedy and very wealthy businessman. He owns and runs a network of small factories making counterfeit designer clothes (sweatshops in other words). When he was younger he wanted to become a Bollywood actor, but was denied by his domineering father. Still, he maintains a passionate interest in Bollywood films, which provides the way in for the crew.
- Charles and Quentin Cornfoot are bankers and owners of Cornfoot’s Merchant Bank, established in 1706. They are both extremely greedy and are not above poaching clients from other banks, floating hopeless businesses on the market, and selling their own clients short by driving down the share prices.
Series 4
- Anthony Westley (played by Robert Wagner) is a Texan who made his fortune in industrial fastenings. He sold his company in 1999 to property developers knowing they were going to close down his factory and put his people out of work, but netting a profit of nearly $30 million. He is brash, single-minded, mean and also corrupt. When he was in business, he bribed key members of the US government to win defence contracts. He is also obsessed with the movie business, specifically movie memorabilia.
- Veronica Powell (played by Patricia Hodge) is the owner of Morecombe Hall Nursing Home, who has made most of her money in property. The nursing home was family run for 12 years, but bought (six months ago) by Veronica Powell. After running it for two months she decided to whack up the fees and four months after that the fees have trebled from when she first took over. The elderly residents have to sell their property to pay for it although she convinces them to sell through her own auction house. She forgets to invite any serious bidders, buys the lot herself for next to nothing, and sells them on later. She also gets back her money when she collects the fees for the nursing home. She is also a real wine buff and will happily pay thousands to add the right vintage to her collection.
- Lady Clarissa Bartwell married her first husband for his money and title, changed her name from Carol to Clarissa although her husband finally saw through her and left, leaving her a very generous settlement. Despite this she is a con artist and rips off charities. Every charity she holds events for receives only a fraction of what the event makes – the rest goes to her. She also rips off unwitting celebrities in the name of charity, all in cash.
- Johnny Maranzano (played by Chris Tardio) is the son of the late, great Frank Maranzano, a mafia boss and owner of the Oceanic Casino in Las Vegas. Frank Maranzano was found at Las Vegas international airport with three heads in a duffle bag. The only two things he seems to care about are himself and money. He has no regard for his staff and constantly abuses them – verbally and sometimes physically as well. He is not above killing anyone who crosses him and has people on his payroll everywhere in Las Vegas and LA. Johnny’s pride and joy is the biggest slot machine in the world called Big Daddy that is in his casino. It was created by him in memory of his father.
Series 5
- Sara Naismith made her fortune in dubious overseas property deals. She started by buying beach front land along the Black Sea coast once the Soviet Union crumbled, next it was tendering for re-building programmes in China after the earthquake. She left China once it was discovered she was bribing officials to avoid building regulations. She thinks the recession in Europe means she can make a fortune on the money markets. She has an assistant called Aaron who has been with her since September 2008 and has a degree in Business Studies. Note: Naismith and Aaron were actually future team members Emma and Sean in disguise as arranged by Albert to con Mickey and Ash, whilst Mickey and Ash were conning them. The four became a team at the end of the episode.
- William Dagmar is a black, intelligent maverick trader on the stock market and the owner of Dagmar Associates based in London. He was one of the first people to get into Google and eBay, and amongst the first to get out of Enron and Northern Rock. The reason for his success though is insider trading through his contacts. Note: This was actually the cover story for Michael Stone who was in disguise when he conned Sara Naismith and Aaron (Emma and Sean Kennedy).
- Carlton Wood and Harry Fielding run a company called City Prime Associates in London specialising in intellectual property; trademarks, patents, and copyrights usually for high-end technology. Wood is the business brain and Fielding does the technical stuff.
- After they were conned by the group, they returned in the Season Five finale trying to set up a situation where they could con the group out of their money in revenge, but the attempt was a complete failure from the beginning. Mickey subsequently hired various other grifters to participate in the 'plot' and take back their money, allowing the plan to continue simply for the thrill of seeing their faces when they realised what had happened.
- Sir Anthony Kent (played by Tim McInnerny) is a high court judge in London. Educated at Eton and Cambridge, Kent is the last of the old guard, out of touch and proud of it. He has a reputation for handing down the harshest sentences the law allows him. He has a house in Chelsea, an even bigger one in the Cotswolds, and fat expenses claims. He only cares about the crimes, verdicts, and sentences and never speaks to the press. He is known to have broken the rules once; in one of the cases he tried, he was promised gold in return for a shorter sentence. However, before Kent could get his hands on the gold the prisoner is stabbed to death a month into his term.
- Toby Baxter is the only son of self-made ball bearings magnate Reginald Baxter. After his parents died when he was 27, he inherited the family business which he sold almost immediately for a reported £100 million. After the sale he retired and is obsessed with one thing – collecting love diamonds, which he keeps in a high-tech vault under his house. He is also a recluse and never leaves home.
- Pinky Byrne started in Hatton Garden as a runner, but soon worked out he could make more money as a tracer on the outside, using his knowledge of the industry on the inside. Byrne's a killer with no conscience but that is why he is good – he won't stop at anything. The last bloke who grassed him up was taken to a Halal butchers by Pinky who cut off his wedding tackle and made him eat it.
- Rhona Christie MP is a career politician. She took a marginal seat promising to speak up for the man and woman in the street although has become someone of influence in the construction industry. She picks projects to fast track and then makes them happen bypassing planners and environmentalists and has a lot of influence. She can therefore turn a worthless property into prime real estate, taking bribes from property developers to de-list buildings.
- Alfred Thomas Baron is the eldest son of the Duke and Duchess of Derbyshire, who can trace his ancestry back to Henry VIII. He spends his time mostly gambling, sleeping with models and dodgy business ventures. He believes that if people are stupid enough to lose their houses then it is the fault of the state. He even believes that there should some sort of compulsory euthanasia programme starting with the unemployed, those on benefits, and then moving on to the over 65s.
Series 6
- Sir Edmund "Piggy" Richardson is the ex-boss of a bank he brought to the verge of collapse in 2009 and needed bailing out by the British government. He has become one of the most hated corporate sharks in the UK because he walked away with an annual pension of £500,000 earning him the nickname of "Piggy" and vilification by the press and public due to the fact that half the people that worked for him lost their jobs.
- Liability Finch is an ex-grifter that has become a thief. However, he is a bumbling, hapless crook hence the name and is just not cut out to be a crook. He considers Mickey Bricks to be grifting royalty and wonders what it would be like to work beside him every day and used to work with Ash Morgan back in the mid-80s working short cons until Ash saw sense. They once did the pigeon drop six times in one day down in Brighton but there last victim was an off-duty policewoman and they did time. He also helped Ash with the flop where Ash would perform the flop and then Finch would pretend to be a doctor passing by. He now lives in a council flat in London.
- Luke Baincross is 51 years old and in 2001 he inherited Baincross Hall; a 48-room mansion in Surrey. He supports two ex-wives, soon to be three, and has a champagne lifestyle without ever having done a day's work in his life. He recently opened up Baincross Hall to the public. The Baincross family made their fortune in the Indian silk trade in the 18th century, and as a result have one of the world's largest collections of Indian art that is worth millions, including a life-size jewel encrusted gold tiger.
- Rex Kennedy is the father of Emma and Sean Kennedy. He is a respected businessman in his adopted home of Melbourne, Australia from where he runs a successful property-developing company that has an extensive portfolio throughout Australia, and on several sites in Europe including one in London. In 1987, when Emma was five and Sean was three years old, he emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, leaving Emma and Sean in the care of their mother. His reason for leaving was that he figured they would be better off without him, so he told them he was going on a business trip and that he would bring Sean back a Tracey Island. That was the last they saw of him. A year after his departure his wife died, and Emma and Sean went into care.
- Mervyn Lloyd is a dishonest 'entrepreneur' who conned Mickey when he sold him a useless mobile phone. As a result of this, Mickey lost his mojo (which was briefly passed onto barman Eddie) and the gang agreed to con Mervyn so the luck curse could e reversed. They had him believe that Albert is launching a great new product set to make millions of pounds. Mervyn falls for their scam and is left in a state of shock when the prototype of the product is sent to him (after investing in it). Mickey's mojo returned, as well as Eddie's bad luck. Mervyn was played by Daniel Mays (Ashes to Ashes).
Series 7
- Wendy Stanton (played by Anna Chancellor) is the head of Model Devotion, a modelling agency. A failed model herself, Stanton sought to gain access to the 'big-time' as an agency head, but had never made it, simply working in low-end catalogues, made even worse when her ex-partner Betty Greenacre's company received a contract for Milan Fashion Week. She was also known to con aspiring models out of approximately £900 each by claiming that she needed the money to set up a portfolio for the models, claiming that they would recoup the money on their first job, while really keeping the money for herself.
- Jeremy Garrett, Stanley Mead, and Viscount Manley are: an MP recently appointed to the Treasury who believed that chips, ketchup and lager should be taxed to recoup recent losses; a judge on the court of public decency who engaged in threesomes; and a young man who had recently inherited a large amount of money from his father, respectively.
- Georgina Althorp (played by Angela Griffin) is the head of Dosh4You, a loan company with a ridiculously high interest rate in the fine print of the contracts; most people who asked for loans from her ended up losing their homes anyway because they couldn't keep up the repayments. Having changed her name in her youth, Georgina originally studied law before going into her current business, going so far as to evict her own parents from their home.
- Marcus Wendell (played by Michael Brandon) is an American whose family have owned casinos all the way back to the Civil War in America, where his ancestors accused Charlie Stroller - Albert's great-grandfather - of cheating on their casino steamboat and threw him off the ship. Having opened his first casino in Britain, Wendell attempts to provoke the gang into trying to con him so that he can put their photos on his 'wall of grifters', where he places pictures of those he finds cheating in his casinos - although there is evidence that his standards to determine whether someone is cheating are relatively low - subsequently ruining the future career prospects of potential grifters by sending their information to all of the world's major financial institutions.
- Benny is an old time grifter who was a jack of all trades. He could pick out a mark with ease, pick a pocket with lightning speed and nearly replaced Ash as a member of the group. Even though he was an amazing grifter he thought he was better than everyone else, smarter, quicker and more devious. He held a great grudge against Mickey and his group for picking Ash instead of him and owed money to a local gang leader who threatened to kill him if the money wasn't return with interest. He was a master conman, even managing to con Mickey out of £20,000 without him knowing it in the early days.
References
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